＊myungsoo's story

 may seventh twenty ten 

"Sunggyu-hyung? It's Myungsoo." I replied coolly, and i heard the sighs of frustration from the other line. 

"YAH, Myungsoo! This has to be the fifth time you've called me today! What do you want?? I'm busy!" The older male yelled irritatedly, causing me to bring the phone away from my ear. I paused wondering if I should tell him to be cautious or to express my concerns, but I decided to keep quiet.

"Ah...I'm just wondering if you've read my draft essay?" I said making something up on the spot. 

"No. Now stop calling me for all these little things. I'm busy!" He groaned and slammed down the phone, causing the line to die. 

Staring at the face of my cellphone, I quickly snapped it shut and placed it on my desk. Looking at the time, I saw that it was already almost midnight. Sunggyu was still alive. Not only that, he didn't seem to be breathless or hyperventilating over the phone. Maybe I was just becoming paranoid. I had to relax, like what Sungyeol said. Walking over to my bed, I quickly fell on my bed and decided to sleep early. Maybe I could wake early and go to school and check on Sunggyu. With that in mind, my eyes fluttered close, and I fell to sleep.

---

RING RING RING.

The loud jarring ringing of my cellphone broke through my comfortable dream, forcing me to wake up. I groaned, the feeling of annoyance coming over me. My eyes were immediately drawn to the alarm clock which read 3 am. Who the hell was calling me at this time?? Grabbing my phone, I flipped it open, saw the name and was prepared to yell at the person on the other line.

"YAH LEE SUNGYEOL. DO YOU KNOW WHAT TIME IT IS?" I practically spat into my phone.

Silence.

This just made me a bit more annoyed. Don't tell me he accidentally dialed me without even knowing.

"Sungyeol?!" I asked again.

"Hah...ha....agnnn..." 

Breathing was heard from the line.

My body immediately felt cold and my fingers holding onto my cellphone grew numb. If this was some kind of joke, I would break his neck.

"Sungye--" Before I could finish, the boy interrupted me.

"M-myungsoo...agckk..." I heard him sputter.

"Sungyeol! What the hell is going on?!"

"I...I brought it back home. I..agnn...wanted to see why you were so p-paranoid...so...hghhckk...I...I..." Sungyeol didn't seem to be able to finish his sentence. The sound of something loud hitting the floor was heard and suddenly the line went dead.

"SUNGYEOL?!!" I immediately sprung up from my bed, and went to grab my jacket. Not even bothering to tell my parents where I was going, or leaving a note, because well, they were asleep, I quickly bolted out of the house. I wasn't even thinking straight, all I knew was that I had to get to Sungyeol. 

Putting every ounce of strength into running, I could feel my lungs tightening. My legs began to protest from all the sudden activity, but I knew I couldn't stop to even catch my breath. Running up a flight of stairs, almost tripping from the curb of the road, and somehow managing to dodge the few night owls in the streets, I sprinted to Sungyeol's home as fast as my legs would allow.

As I neared his house, I could see flashing red lights. My heart tightened and for some reason, my pace slowed. I walked carefully to his house. Maybe it was the part of me that didn't want to know what was going on. The sounds of chattering and crying were now clearer and when I finally reached his house, my throat went dry and I almost fell to my knees.

Sungyeol's parents were seen sobbing beside their house gate, meanwhile a white sheet covered a body on a stretcher. 

---

After that day, I didn't go to school for a week. I didn't even bother to leave my bed or get out of my room. The feeling of losing my best friend was unbearable, I couldn't even put it into words. It felt like I couldn't cry anymore, however one simple thought of Sungyeol would cause me to go into another fit of rage and depression. 

Eyes red from crying, body weaker from not eating, I felt like I had become an empty shell. I was finally forced to go to school by my parents. Although they sympathized for me, they couldn't keep covering my absences when the principal called to inform them that if I missed another class, I wasn't going to be able to enter the next grade. 

Quietly walking into the classroom in the early morning, I saw Jiyeon - a wide smile stretched from one side of her face to the other, her eyes drawn to the sheet of paper in front of her, and the sounds of writing once again filled my ears. 

The classroom definitely felt different. The air was thick and suffocating. It felt like no one even dared to laugh in there, as if it were some kind of taboo to have fun when such horrible things had occurred to the students in there. During lunch, everyone in the class tried to act as if nothing, but it was still obvious that it was tense.

Suddenly, whatever chattering was going on quickly stopped when Jiyeon stood up from her seat. Walking over to Jieun, she held out her notebook.

"Please read it."